The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
For example, airborne molecular contamination (AMC) becomes a more and more serious issue in semiconductor manufacturing process for further scaling down the geometry size. If an AMC sensor reaches or exceeds an allowed AMC concentration level in a fab, a common procedure for identifying the AMC leakage source and location utilizes significant human time and resources. The procedure is also slow for identifying the AMC leaking source and location. That may adversely affect the semiconductor manufacturing process, the fab and associated IC devices. Accordingly, what is needed is a method to identify the AMC leaking source and location in a quick way if the AMC sensor is alarmed.